


you're gonna find your way home

by blackandblue13



Series: some jatp one-shots bc i'm emo [11]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Season/Series 01, Romantic Cuddling, canon compliant because i said so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27145243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackandblue13/pseuds/blackandblue13
Summary: A dish thrown. The shattering of glass. Slurs spat in his face. Reggie tried to run, but this time, he wasn’t fast enough. As soon as he got out the front door, he was yanked back inside.And that’s when he wakes up.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina & Reggie, Ray Molina & Reggie
Series: some jatp one-shots bc i'm emo [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969249
Comments: 32
Kudos: 361





	you're gonna find your way home

**Author's Note:**

> i believe in julie molina supremacy 
> 
> also ray knows about the guys he Knows i just don’t feel like explaining it in the fic so uhhh 
> 
> julie: hey dad the guys are ghosts  
> ray: what  
> julie and the himbos: *edge of great* *ghost reveal*  
> ray: oh okay cool
> 
> And Another Thing: luke's couch is, in fact, a pull-out bed (julie says it in ep1 when she agrees to let the guys stay in the studio)

A dish thrown. The shattering of glass. Slurs spat in his face. Reggie tried to run, but this time, he wasn’t fast enough. As soon as he got out the front door, he was yanked back inside. 

And that’s when he wakes up. 

He finds himself in the studio, wearing one of Luke’s muscle tees, laying on the pull-out bed of the couch, where he had fallen asleep in the first place. That fact takes a minute to settle in as he familiarizes himself with the world around him. 

His arm wraps around Luke’s waist, who clings to Alex’s chest. He presses a kiss to the back of Luke’s neck before poofing out. He doesn’t want to disturb either of them, especially when they look so peaceful together. 

“Reggie?” 

Apparently, the first place he thought of poofing into was Julie’s room, but he accidentally woke her in the process. The one thing he wanted to avoid. 

“I’m sorry, I’ll go—” 

“No, it’s okay. Come here.” 

He joins her on the bed as she sits up and takes one of his hands. “What happened?” 

“Bad dream” is all he manages to get out. He knows he’ll start crying again if he says more. New tears are already welling up in his eyes. 

Julie hums in response, resting her head on his shoulder. She would never push him for an explanation. She’s the type of person to hold his hand and offer supportive words until he’s ready to talk. Just further proof of her perfection. 

After a few moments of silence, Reggie adds, “I’m sorry for waking you up.” 

“I was already up.” 

Her words hang in the air. He notices Julie has her own set of tear tracks on her cheeks, but returns the favor of not asking. 

They shift to lay down, Reggie moving his arm around her as she leans into his chest. 

“It was my mom.” Her breath hitches. “I think it was a memory. We were together and happy, but when I woke up, she wasn’t there anymore, and I…” 

He finds her hand on his chest, twisting the beads of his necklace, and squeezes it. 

“My family,” he says after so long, he thought Julie had fallen back asleep. She didn’t, though. She presses a kiss to his knuckles. “Mostly my dad. He…” 

Reggie can’t find the words. Maybe he doesn’t want to. Talking about it means reliving, and he already did that once tonight. But he’s with Julie, one of his best friends. She would never judge him for something that happened twenty-five years ago, something out of his control. 

“They found a photo album Luke gave me. Pictures of us and Alex. It ended up being fuel to the ongoing argument of which parents screwed me up more.” 

Julie’s only response is, “I love you,” and that’s all he needs to hear. 

“I love you, too.” 

More silence. 

“Can you tell me about your mom?” 

~ 

Reggie wakes up alone in Julie’s room, but hears the shower running down the hall and assumes that’s where she went. 

He barely has time to process the knock on the door before it swings open and Ray enters. He freezes upon seeing Reggie, a stern look on his face. 

“You’re in the band with my daughter.” 

Reggie nods, his throat suddenly dry. 

“And now you’re in her bed.” 

Reggie scrambles to get up and gracelessly falls on the floor instead. “You see— we— I had a bad dream, and she was already awake, and— nothing happened, Ray, I swear!” 

The last thing he expects Ray to do is _laugh_ , all traces of seriousness melting away. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be doing the whole _scary dad_ act ever since I tried giving Flynn the shovel talk. Didn’t go very well.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Well, I don’t get scared easily.” Reggie could have gotten away with this lie if his voice didn’t crack. He stands up and clears his throat, attempting to maintain some sense of dignity. 

“Are you sure? You’re shaking pretty bad.” 

Ray reaches out a hand, causing Reggie to stumble back before either of them remember they can’t touch. 

Thankfully, Julie chooses that moment to return. 

“Dad, are you—” Her eyes land on Reggie. 

He hears her say his name, but he poofs out instead of answering. 

He’s back in the studio. Alex and Luke are still asleep, so Reggie reclaims his spot on the bed, facing away from the other boys. He lays down, not to sleep, but just _exist_. 

He hears Luke yawn and mumble to Alex. Their quiet laughter floats in the air. 

Maybe Reggie can pretend everything is okay. 

He feels the mattress dip as Luke turns over and begins trailing kisses up his arm. “Morning, handsome.” Then his neck. “I missed you.” He knows Reggie left. His heart would be pounding, if it still did that. 

Reggie smiles as Luke hovers over him and finds his lips. “I missed you, too.” 

“Where’d you go?” 

Another kiss. 

“Julie’s room.” 

A few more. 

Luke stops. “Are you okay?” 

_No._

“Yeah, fine.” Reggie tries pulling him back down, but Luke won’t budge. 

“Reg.” 

“Luke.” 

“You’re shaking.” 

Reggie doesn’t respond. 

“Okay, sit up.” 

He listens. Luke throws an arm around Reggie as he settles into his shoulder. 

The garage door opens, but neither of them expected Ray to be the one who comes in. Reggie feels himself tense up and hopes Luke won’t notice. 

“Hey, guys, I don’t know if you’re in here.” Ray’s voice is soft. Apologetic. “Julie’s running a bit late for school, so she asked me to check in and bring down one of her sweaters.” He holds it up — the orange one with the smiley face, she wore it the night they first met her — before putting it on an amp. Reggie’s amp. “If any of you are here, could you give me a sign so I know I’m not just talking to air?” 

Luke starts getting up, but before he can stop himself, Reggie puts a hand on his leg. 

“I’ll get going, then,” Ray says, patting the amp as if it were Reggie himself. His eyes move to the bass and spend a few moments taking it in. “I’m sorry, kid.” It comes out as a whisper, like Ray is talking to him directly. 

When the door shuts behind Ray, Reggie lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

“What happened?” Alex asks, suddenly on Reggie’s other side. When did he do that? 

Reggie hesitates. “Nothing. I just… I screwed up. No big deal.” 

“Reg.” 

“Alex.” 

“You didn’t even look at Ray,” Luke points out. 

Reggie chooses this moment to lean on Alex’s shoulder instead. He wears one of Reggie’s t-shirts and Luke’s sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off. 

Reggie tugs at the sweatshirt. “I like this on you.” 

Alex kisses the top of his head. “Talk to us.” 

“He just seemed like he was mad at me, and I freaked out, okay?” Reggie switches shoulders again. Luke is wearing Alex’s pink hoodie, and Reggie snakes his hand through the pocket. “This is nice on you.” 

He feels Luke and Alex shift around him, probably having their own silent conversation. 

“Your dad,” Luke says. 

Reggie looks up at him. “Hmm?” 

“He reminded you of your dad.” 

Reggie stays quiet. He didn’t realize it before, but Luke is right. 

He could barely protect himself from his dad, but at least Reggie knew what he was up against. He was human. They both were. Reggie could fight with his fists or a strategically hidden baseball bat when necessary. 

But then Caleb entered the scene, and Reggie was too quick to trust. He put his faith in a charming man who was ready to guide them toward their dream of making music together, forever. Even if it wasn’t their typical genre, the venue was full of life (metaphorically) and prosperity and magic and Reggie fell in love with it. 

Caleb was like a shiny new father figure from beyond the grave and Reggie was so eager — _too_ eager — to find someone who might support his dreams from a parental standpoint. Ray was wonderful, an amazing dad to Julie and Carlos, and his love for his kids shines so brightly that Reggie can almost feel it, too. But Caleb could talk to him, verbally express pride for the boys, encourage them to perform more, welcome them into his family. Reggie never got that with his own father, and sometimes it felt like he might never get that with Ray either. 

But the guys were ghosts — _are_ ghosts — with powers they could barely understand, so they fell for his trap and almost died again. 

In life, he had one out-of-reach father figure. In death, he has three. At that realization, Reggie did what he did best. 

He shatters. 

Even now, only a week after the Orpheum, no sign of Caleb anywhere, Reggie finds himself in moments where he can’t breathe. He brushes them off because _he’s a ghost, it’s not like he was breathing anyway_. He can’t tell Julie or the guys because then they’ll look at him like he’s about to break. Luke and Alex did it when he accidentally woke them up after a nightmare, back when they all moved into the studio. They haven’t looked at him like that since then, but he doesn’t want to give them a reason to restart. 

He couldn’t protect them. He had no clue what they were up again, or if Caleb is gone for good at all. 

Reggie sits up and hugs his legs to his chest, no longer leaning against either boy. He hangs his head against his knees, and Alex and Luke’s arms gravitate around him, like they were always meant to be intertwined. He stays silent for a minute before telling them everything. 

~ 

Reggie is cross-legged on the kitchen counter, tapping the pen as he waits for Ray to come in. It only takes a few minutes. 

Ray is putting away his lunch dishes when he spots the notepad on the counter, instead of its usual place on the fridge. 

_I have a lot of bad dad memories_ , Reggie had scribbled on the page. 

“Oh,” Ray says. “Was he too strict? Or the opposite?” 

_Fought with mom. Hated me._

“How could a parent hate their own kid?” 

_Band. Stupid. Boyfriends._

“Unsupportive,” Ray clarifies. 

_Bad target practice._

Reggie regrets adding that as soon as Ray covers his mouth. Reggie scratches it out, but he can’t take it back. 

“You know I love you like a son, right? And the guys, too?” 

Reggie uses all of his power to hold back the tears threatening to fall. 

_Love you, too, Ray._

Ray picks up one of the stray pens next to Reggie. He draws a single line through his name and writes _Dad_ underneath. 

“If you’d like,” Ray adds aloud. “Julie says that’s why you hang around me so much.” 

Reggie draws a single smiley face before dropping the pen and poofing away. 

~

“Hey, Jules,” Reggie greets with a light knock as he peeks his head through the doorframe. 

“Hey, Reg.” Julie shifts to the side of her bed to clear a space for him. “How are you?” Her tone is careful. Not accusing him of potentially breaking at any given moment, but welcome him into a safe space. She really makes things easier, and he’s eternally grateful. 

So he goes right into it. And she holds his hand the whole time. And she understands. And he feels like he can breathe, like there’s a weight off his shoulder, and he doesn’t have to feel like he’s hiding a huge secret from her or the guys. 

The mutual trust is overwhelming, and Reggie finds himself crying again. But this time, they’re happy tears. And Julie is there to wipe them away and kiss his cheeks. 

It’s past midnight when Alex and Luke poof into the room — long after the conversation morphed from parental history into the latest thing that reminded Julie of him (a tiny cowboy hat in the window of her favorite thrift store). Reggie braces himself for another talk about boundaries, but is pleasantly surprised when Julie invites the other boys to join their cuddle-and-feelings session. They gladly accept, piling onto the bed. Alex wraps himself around Julie on the side opposite Reggie, while Luke lays across all their laps, settling his head on Alex, leaving Julie to lean on Reggie’s shoulder. 

Eventually, sleep takes over. In the moments before he drifts off, Reggie feels a sense of peace as he’s surrounded by his family.

**Author's Note:**

> so that’s the end of that one i guess lmao 
> 
> thank you for reading!! luv u worms 
> 
> tumblr / blackandblue13 
> 
> ~ b


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